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The Conversation: VA Gears Up For Veteran Vaccination Plan

Veterans Vaccine Plan; Reality Check: Vaccine Skepticism; Hawaii Small Business Woes; Kalaupapa Concert; “Allegiance” Memoir

Veterans Vaccine Plan

The Veterans Affairs office just hosted a virtual town hall meeting to take questions from its members about when they will be offered the chance to be vaccinated. Amy Rohlfs is the Public Affairs officer for the VA. We talked to her yesterday afternoon while the first of the Pacific Islands VA staff in Guam was getting the first doses.

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Amy Rohlfs, Public Affairs Officer for the VA

Reality Check: Vaccine Skepticism

Honolulu Civil Beat’s reporter Brittany Lyte joins us with a story about growing skepticism around the COVID-19 vaccines.

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Civil Beat Politics and Opinions Editor Chad Blair

 

Credit AP Photo/Paul Sancya

 
Hawaii Small Business Woes
 
As 2020 comes to a close, many small business owners are looking back on a devastating year. While various programs have offered support in the ways of payroll protection or pivot grants, more entrepreneurs are asking the question “why isn’t our government doing more?” The Conversation’s producer Harrison Patino reached out to various members of Hawaii’s small business community to see what they had to say.

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Melissa Pavlicek, Ron Heller, Tamrin Amantiad

 
 
Kalaupapa Concert
 
Today we turn our attention to the remote settlement of Kalaupapa which up until this month was the only county that was Covid-19 free. We talked to Ka ‘Ohana O Kalaupapa Executive Director Val Monson about a virtual concert that is part music-event part documentary about the musicians of the Hansen’s disease settlement.

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Ka ‘Ohana O Kalaupapa Executive Director Val Monson

 
 

“Allegiance” Memoir

Earlier this week, we talked about a new memoir writing program from Watermark Publishing called the Halia Aloha Series.

The series editor is Darien Hsu Gee, who also produced a new memoir called “Allegiance” using the micro-narrative techniques in the program. Here’s an excerpt from the book, titled “Photograph: Poolside Selfie at the Four Seasons Hualalai.”

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Author Darien Hsu Gee

Stay Connected
Catherine Cruz is the host of The Conversation. Originally from Guam, she spent more than 30 years at KITV, covering beats from government to education. Contact her at ccruz@hawaiipublicradio.org.
Jason Ubay is the managing editor at Hawaiʻi Public Radio. Send your story ideas to him at jubay@hawaiipublicradio.org.
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